Israeli paramedics say 2 wounded in new Jerusalem attack

JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian gunman opened fire in east Jerusalem on Saturday, wounding at least two people less than a day after another gunman killed seven outside a synagogue there in the city’s deadliest attack since 2008.

At least two men, ages 23 and 47, were injured in the upper body in the shooting near Jerusalem’s historic Old City, paramedics said. They are fully conscious and in moderate to serious condition in the hospital, the medics added. Nothing was initially known about the condition of the attacker.

It was the latest major escalation in one of the bloodiest months in Israel and the occupied West Bank in several years. On Friday, a Palestinian gunman killed at least seven people, including a 70-year-old woman, outside a synagogue in east Jerusalem.

Israeli police launched a security raid near the synagogue early Saturday after the attack.

They fanned out into the shooter’s At-Tur neighborhood in East Jerusalem and arrested 42 family members, neighbors and others close to him for questioning. Police Chief Kobi Shabtai reinforced security forces and ordered police to work 12-hour shifts, the statements said, urging the public to call a hotline if they see anything suspicious.

The earlier Friday attack, which took place as local residents were celebrating the Jewish Sabbath, came a day after an Israeli military attack killed nine Palestinians in the West Bank. Friday’s shooting sparked celebrations in both the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, with people firing guns in the air, honking horns and handing out candy.

The outbreak of violence, which included rocket fire from Gaza and Israeli retaliation, posed an early challenge for Israel’s new government, which is dominated by ultranationalists who are being urged to take a hard line against Palestinian violence. It also threw a cloud over a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region on Sunday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters at Israel Police Headquarters that he had conducted a security assessment and decided on “immediate action.” He said he will convene his Security Cabinet Saturday night after the end of the Sabbath to discuss another response.

Netanyahu declined to elaborate, but said Israel will act with “determination and composure.” He called on the public not to take the law into their own hands.

The Associated Press